═══ 1. Help for Keys ═══ ASTEROID 2.2 allows the user to select which keys control the ship. To change the default keys select the "Keys..." menu item in the "Options" menu. The game play functions have the following default key definitions: Rotate Left Rotate Right Thrust Hyperspace Fire s Shield The following keys may not be redefined: F1 Help 1 Select 1 Player Game 2 Select 2 Player Game + f Hide Frame Controls + k Redefine Keys + p Pause Game F3 or + x Exit Game Additionally, the mouse has the following functions: Double Click Left Button Hide/Show Frame Controls Double Click Right Button Pop up About dialog box Left Button + Drag Move screen without title bar ═══ 2. Help for Game Control ═══ The Game menu allows you to start a new game or affect a game in progress. New Starts a new 1 or 2 player game. Frame Controls Hides/shows the frame controls (titlebar, menu, etc.). Background Allows ASTEROID to run in the background and when iconized. Pause Suspends all screen action until unpaused. Stop Stops the game in process and returns ASTEROID to attract mode. Exit Exits ASTEROID. ═══ 3. Help for New Game ═══ 1 Player Game Starts a new one player game. 2 Player Game Starts a new two player game. In two player games players alternate turns after each ship. If a game is already in progress, New will be disabled. ═══ 4. Help for Frame Controls ═══ If the frame controls are visible, selecting Frame Controls will make them invisible; if the frame controls are already hidden it will make them visible. The frame controls are the system menu, the title bar, the minimize and maximize buttons, and the application menu. ═══ 5. Help for Background ═══ When enabled, screen action will continue unless explicitly paused. Normally game play is automatically paused when ASTEROID is iconized, when it is not the foreground process, or when the user is accessing the menus or a dialog box. The Background option allows ASTEROID to be used as a backdrop and to be played in iconic form. ═══ 6. Help for Pause ═══ Pause pauses (or unpauses) ASTEROID. If a game is in progress all action will be stopped until the game is unpaused. ASTEROID may also be paused by pressing + p. You may unpause a game by selecting Pause, or by pressing + p. ═══ 7. Help for Stop Game ═══ If a game is in progress Stop will terminate it. If a game is not in progress, Stop will be disabled. ═══ 8. Help for Exit ═══ Select Exit or press F3 to exit ASTEROID. ═══ 9. Help for Options ═══ The Optionsmenu allows you to adjust game play parameters and options. Ships Sets the number of ships you start each game with. Photons Sets the number of photons avaible. Rapid Fire Enable or disables rapid fire. Fire Rate Sets the rapid fire rate. Shield Enables or disables the shield. Keys Lets you redefine the ship control keys. ═══ 10. Help for Ships ═══ The Ships submenu allows you to select the number of ships each player initially receives. (It may be set to 3, 4, or 5, the default is 3) ═══ 11. Help for Photons ═══ The Photons submenu allows you to select the maximum number of photons available at any one time. (It may be set to to 3, 4, 6, or 8, the default is 4) ═══ 12. Help for Rapid Fire ═══ The Rapid Fire option allows you to enable or disable the rapid fire feature. When enabled, rapid fire lets you fire multiple photons by simply holding down the Fire key. (By default, rapid fire is enabled) ═══ 13. Help for Fire Rate ═══ The Fire Rate submenu allows you to set the rate of rapid fire. Fire Rate is disabled unless Rapid Fire is enabled. (The default rapid fire rate is Slow) ═══ 14. Help for Keys ═══ Keys... pops up the Key Definition dialog box which allows you to redefine which keys control the ship. ═══ 15. Help for Help ═══ Get help on how to use help, get extended help, look at the help index, or to look at copyright information. Help for help Provides detailed information on the kinds of help available and how to use help. Extended help Displays general help. Keys help Displays a list of keys. Help index Displays the help index. About Displays copyright information. ═══ 16. Help for Help ═══ Help for Help shows what kind of help is available and how to use the available help. In general, help is provided for every menu, command, and other selections. To get detailed information on help, click on Help for help..., or select it and press . ═══ 17. Extended Help ═══ Extended Help provides general information about ASTEROID To get extended help, click on Extended help... ═══ 18. Help Keys ═══ Display a list of keys and mouse functions. To display the list of keys, click on Keys help... ═══ 19. Help for Help index ═══ Display the help index. The help index lists titles for all available help by subject. To display the help index, click on Help index.... ═══ 20. Help for About ═══ Display copyright information. To display the copyright information, click on About ═══ 21. Help for ASTEROID ═══ ASTEROID is an OS/2 Presentation Manager implementation of the 1979 arcade game Asteroids(tm) by Atari. Additional information about ASTEROID is available on the following subjects: o Installation o Features o Scoring o A Brief History of ASTEROID o Important Notes ASTEROID is copyright (c) 1990, 1991 by Todd B. Crowe. You may copy ASTEROID freely. There is no warranty implied or otherwise. You may not modify any of the code or any of the accompanying files without my permission. ASTEROID may not be sold or distributed commercially or otherwise for profit. I reserve all rights and privileges to ASTEROID. ═══ Installing ASTEROID ═══ Installation If you want to run ASTEROID from a full screen prompt simply type: ASTEROID If you want to install ASTEROID in a Presentation Manager program group: create a "New..." program entry and supply a drive and path in the "Path and file name" entry field: C:\GAMES\ASTEROID.EXE No parameters are required. The file ASTEROID.HLP (this file) should be in the ASTEROID working directory or in a directory pointed to by the HELP environment variable. ASTEROID.HLP contains all of the help information for ASTEROID. The file ASTEROID.DLL must be in a directory in your LIBPATH (e.g. C:\OS2\DLL); if it is not ASTEROID.EXE will display an error message box and then terminate. ASTEROID.DLL contains the two custom fonts used by ASTEROID.EXE. On slower machines asteroid movement may look very jumpy. In fact, everything moves at the same rate on a slow computer as a fast computer. On a slow computer the asteroids are just redrawn less often. ═══ Features ═══ Features ASTEROID resembles very closely the arcade game Asteroids. It supports the player attraction modes, the high score entry screen, a high score table, a custom font, and 2 player mode. Enemy space ships appear on the screen and fire directly at the player's ship. The player may hyperspace, but, as in the arcade game, the player's ship randomly blows up on reentry. Beginning in ASTEROID 2.0 high scores, window size and position information, and frame control status were saved in a profile. ASTEROID 2.1 added a system menu, a help screen, and the ability to customize the number of ships per game, the number photons that may be fired simultaneously, the use of the shield, and the keys for controlling the ship. In version 2.1 a new game play feature was added to ASTEROID. The player's ships may be equipped with a shield. The shield protects a ship from asteroids, the enemy ships, and photons. It does, however, have a drawback. The shield operates off of the hyperspace drive, which has a limited energy reserve. When the shield is on it draws energy from the hyperspace drive energy reserve. Eventually, the reserve supply will become exhausted and the shield will power down. When the hyperspace energy reserve is low hyperspacing is more dangerous. If the shield is left off, the hyperspace drive will slowly recharge the energy reserve. Finally, this wonderful online help was added with ASTEROID 2.2 (the current version). ═══ Scoring ═══ Scoring Scoring is the same as in the original arcade game: Large Asteroids = 20 points Medium Asteroids = 40 points Small Asteroids = 100 points Large Enemy Spaceships = 200 points Small Enemy Spaceships = 1000 points A free ship is awarded at 10,000 points and every 10,000 points thereafter. ═══ A Brief History of ASTEROID ═══ A Brief History of ASTEROID ASTEROID 1.0 - June 1990 Basic Asteroids game Limited customization Variable speed settings Simple scalable screen display Integer math for speed ASTEROID 2.0 Changes - September 1990 New custom fonts Asteroids-like screen display Automatic play speed selection 1/2 Player games High score table Use of profile to save information Complete rewrite of code ASTEROID 2.1 Changes - May 1991 Minor bug fixes from 2.0 Menu bar, key definition, help screen Customize options Shield option ASTEROID 2.2 Changes - June 1991 Minor bug fixes from 2.1 Rapid fire Improved keyboard input On-line help ═══ Important Notes ═══ Important Notes ASTEROID is not shareware, but neither is it public domain. I do not ask that you send me any money. If you enjoy ASTEROID (and I know there are several of you who do), then I would appreciate hearing from you. In the past, people have sent me examples of their own programs. I also appreciate receiving comments and suggestions for improvements. If you are an employer and are interested in hiring a young OS/2 (or UNIX) programmer, I would be interested in hearing about possible job opportunities. Todd Crowe 1310 Indian St. Bellingham, Washington 98225 Internet Address: TODDC@NESSIE.WWU.EDU